Lorbek Luxury Cars salesman says businesses need help dealing with malicious social media reviews
A PORT Melbourne luxury car dealer suing over negative online social media reviews says laws are needed to deal with acts of customer “retribution”.
Law & Order
Don't miss out on the headlines from Law & Order. Followed categories will be added to My News.
BUSINESSES can invest years and many thousands of dollars building a good brand.
Word of mouth plays an important role in shaping a business reputation, but now, in the age of social media and “fake news”, the good will of many happy customers can be quickly overshadowed by negative online posts.
Malicious posts from even a handful of unscrupulous dissatisfied customers with “retribution” on their mind for not getting their way can tarnish or trash a reputation and scare away new business.
LUXURY CAR DEALER SUES SECOND CUSTOMER OVER NEW ‘LEMON’ CLAIM
DEALER SUES CUSTOMER OVER ‘LEMON’ PORSCHE REVIEWS
BITTER BATTLE OVER ‘LEMON’ PORSCHE
It’s a problem that Lorbek Luxury Cars principal Srecko Lorbek decided to tackle head on when he determined to sue two disgruntled customers for online reviews that he alleges defamed him and his business in a deliberate and malicious attempt to harm his reputation.
Mr Lorbek says he had to act to protect a hard earned reputation among luxury car aficionados he has built on knowledge accumulated over more than 30 years as a trader of luxury vehicles.
Mr Lorbek said he has poured his heart and soul into establishing one of the country’s premier used luxury car dealerships since starting out 35 years ago as a motor mechanic in a Richmond laneway with just $20.
“I am so upset, as I am taking a stand to protect my name and my brand to have the (allegedly) inaccurate and false Google reviews removed,” Mr Lorbek said on Friday.
“It is unfortunate that anybody who doesn’t get their own way can simply post anything they want as retribution for us not giving into their bullying demands.”
Mr Lorbek said the problem had grown over the past five years and it was time governments provided greater protection with laws to help businesses deal effectively with malicious online reviews and blogs.
“What’s happening to me here is part of a problem that is increasing around the world,” he said.
“Google and other online service providers have allowed people to unscrupulously vent their frustration or anger because they didn’t get their manipulative way.”
At times, business owners are unable to even identify if a review was even left by a ‘real’ customer, due to the use of alias or even false names.
This can leave hardworking business owners in a state of distress.
Mr Lorbek says he has the evidence to prove the claims made by his former customers online are false.
FACEBOOK TRUST ‘PHENOMENALLY LOW’
Ultimately, it will be a matter for the courts to decide.
But in the meantime, Mr Lorbek claims his business is losing $1 million a month in sales as the posts in question remain visible to anyone googling his company’s name.
“All I’m trying to do is protect the brand that I’ve worked my heart and soul for 35 years,” he said.
Mr Lorbek said he had previously resorted to court action to remove a negative post by another customer, who panned the business — even after it helped out with transport when the new owner put petrol in his tank instead of diesel — because it declined to pay to repair the damage caused to the engine by the petrol.
In one of the current cases, Mr Lorbek said a customer even complained they had to replace the spark plugs in the 11-year-old Mercedes they purchased, despite spark plugs being a “service item” which regularly require changing.
Mr Lorbek said some second-hand luxury vehicle purchasers really want a new car but can’t afford it and fail to lower their expectation of how a second hand car should perform.
“As every car gets older there are some wear factors,” he said. “I try so hard every day to buy the best cars I can or the best standard I can for its year and mileage so I can be competitive. If you knew how many cars I reject versus the ones I keep you’d be staggered, those cars end up being sold elsewhere.”